Opinion: Invisible labour is stealing from women and the economy

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If running a household while managing a career were an Olympic sport, I’d have a shelf full of gold medals. But it’s not, so instead, I’m rewarded with laundry, half-eaten lunches and a never-ending professional to-do list.

My days start at 5 a.m. I stumble out of bed and write for an hour before everyone else wakes up. At 6 a.m., I usher two sleepy kids through steamy showers, hustle them into clothes, then race to the bus.

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The workday is a blur, fuelled by Maxwell House and punctuated by the bling of new emails. Before I know it, the kids are tumbling off the bus, hungry.

There’s homework, reading, and before long, dinner — thankfully prepared by their dad daily. The table is cleared, dishes are stacked, and I collapse onto the couch. Tomorrow, it all starts again.

There is labour that’s billed as a line item on an invoice, and then there’s the work that no one sees — except the kids, of course. They can’t afford your services, but you show up and do the work.

If as a society we value hard work, why do we seemingly overlook the challenging work of giving care — work that’s disproportionately shouldered by women?

Care work is as demanding as any job. It’s a second shift that follows the demands of a paid workday, focused on meeting a stream of school and survival to-dos: Does everyone have their dictée words? Who needs clean socks for tomorrow? What bills are due? The time spent meeting life and family needs stretches mothers thin and often steals time from rest and reconnection.

Women work, too — on top of the unseen labour. We make up half of the workforce in Canada and own 17 per cent of small businesses. If the invisible work of caregiving were compensated and counted alongside paid work, it would contribute trillions in economic value around the world and billions here in Canada. Yet, we pour ourselves into a meritocracy that too often fails to notice our most essential contributions.

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Working mothers need real support, at work and at home, to both provide care and earn without the weight of an unequal load.

When workplaces offer flexibility, they empower mothers and fathers alike to share the responsibilities of caregiving without compromising their careers. Remote work options, adjusted hours, and family paid leave policies that extend to allow fathers to be more present at home challenge the idea that caregiving is primarily “women’s work.”

Canada’s Early Learning and Child Care initiative, aiming for $10-a-day child care by 2025, demonstrates how public investments can ease family life. Quebec’s subsidized system, while affordable, still faces issues, including wait-lists that can span years. When spots become available, families with two or more children may only secure one, as was the case for mine, complicating rather than simplifying work and life.

We must also better enable participation from dads. Engaged fathers benefit children’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development, and their involvement provides tangible benefits to a mother’s well-being, including by reducing stress.

Fathers shouldn’t be expected at work while their partners heal from childbirth or nurture a newborn alone. While the mental load of moms juggling school schedules, medical appointments and playdates might make for a funny TikTok, the reality is no laughing matter.

Accommodating both parents not only creates stronger families, but also gives women the ability to grow their careers and be fully recognized for the work they do both within and outside of home.

The next time you see a parent juggling the load, acknowledge it — better yet, lighten it. Advocate for more equitable policies, offer real flexibility at work, carry her groceries.

Arron Neal is a communications strategist, writer and mother of two exploring the intersection of work, parenting and culture.

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